Kosovo set for another snap election after failure to elect president

Kosovo is set for another snap ​election after parliament failed to ​elect a new president on ‌Tuesday, pitching ​Europe's youngest nation back into the thick of a political crisis. Parliament had until midnight on Tuesday ‌to choose a head of state after President Vjosa Osmani's term ended in early April, but Prime Minister Albin Kurti failed to bring on board opposition parties to ‌vote for his candidate. Two-thirds of the 120-seat parliament must be present ‌for the vote to be valid. Failure to elect a new president triggers snap parliamentary elections.

"Based on the (Constitutional Court) verdict the parliament is considered dissolved," said the speaker of the parliament ⁠and acting ​president Albulena Haxhiu ⁠at midnight. Haxhiu is expected to announce the election date soon. It would be the third ⁠vote in just over a year. The move extends a political deadlock in Kosovo, which ​has aspirations to join the European Union. The Balkan country had no functioning ⁠government for most of last year as the fractured parliament failed to elect a speaker ⁠for ​months, threatening much-needed international funding. A resounding election win by Kurti's Vetevendosje party in December had looked likely to end more than a year of ⁠political stalemate. Choosing a president, even one who has no significant political powers, has always ⁠proven to be ⁠challenging, as two-thirds of lawmakers must attend the voting session, a requirement that makes it easy for the process to ‌be derailed.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)